Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes!!! I can finally say I made it to GOAL!!!! No - I made it PAST goal! Wow! What an awesome feeling!! It has taken me some time, but it has been worth all the efforts.

I have learned SO MUCH on this journey, and I will have to say that I am 200% convinced that I wouldn't have made it without 3FC! There have literally been times when I was so discouraged with my progress, would come to 3FC and read - and then go put on my tennis shoes and work out because I had been so uplifted by what what I read! Now THAT is the power of people helping people - and a stranger at that!!

If you are discouraged right now, please be encouraged! You really CAN do it!! Just never, never, never give up. Only then will a person be a failure. Making a mistake or falling off the wagon now and then is not failure - giving up is failure. So, look in the mirror, and tell the person you see that they CAN do it and then continue on your journey. You will be SO glad you did when you get to the peak called "GOAL!"

Thanks for everything! You all are the best!

__________________~ Lost 137 #s in 2007, then had tragic year in 2012 & regained it all plus some. Now making my way back down again.~

Athenacapella: I learned that food is NOT the answer when I'm sad, happy, mad, frustrated, elated, promoted, demoted, celebrating with family, mourning with family...(you get the idea). Food is to sustain life not enhance mood. However, that doesn't mean we cannot enjoy what we eat! Quite the contrary, because if we don't enjoy what we are eating, more than likely we will revert back to things that are not good for us. Which is the other thing I learned on this journey....finding foods that I like, tweaking them, making them in various ways, trying new things...etc. In other words, I got out of the eating rut I was in (burgers, spaghetti, tacos, Hamburger Helper, etc.) and tried things that I would never tried before getting serious about my health (such as baked sweet potato nuggets, raw nuts, steel cut oats, veggie burgers, turkey meat, grilled veggies, etc.) I also read, read, read! I would come home with 20-30 books (at a time!) from the library on healthy eating, cooking healthy, super foods, etc., and after reading them all, seeing what was consistent throughout all the books, taking what I could use and leaving the rest, I saw that I could adopt a healthy eating style but yet it be my own as well. I also learned that NO ONE ELSE is going to do this for me. As much as my family and friends love me, THEY aren't the ones who will change me. Only ME can change ME. I also reminded myself that time is going to pass no matter if I'm eating healthy or eating unhealthy - so why not eat healthy as the time passes and then be able to look back in six, 12, 18, 24 months and see that I had lost 10, 30, 50, 70....lbs! It really is one day at a time. You can certainly, by all means, do it! It really isn't as far to goal as it looks like at the start of the journey. We just let stuff (emotions, life events, hectic schedules, etc.) obscure our vision and it only SEEMS that it is farther than it is. As you can see, I could go on forever, and I'm sure I'm leaving a lot out, but you get the idea. Look how far you have already come! Just think... in a few more weeks/months you will have much more ground covered and more loss to celebrate, so KEEP IT UP!

__________________~ Lost 137 #s in 2007, then had tragic year in 2012 & regained it all plus some. Now making my way back down again.~

Well, thank you, Robin! I wish I had more time to post....life is just crazy right now (as I'm sure it is for many). It took me a while, but here I am at goal....now on to see where this journey takes me (how low I can really go, on the scale that is) Thanks again!

Edited to add: I just LOVE your quotes in your signature! Too cute and oh so true!

__________________~ Lost 137 #s in 2007, then had tragic year in 2012 & regained it all plus some. Now making my way back down again.~